England seeking ref’s help in quarters

Coach claims Canada getting easy ride so far

VANCOUVER • Let the gamesmanship begin.

England coach Mark Sampson has fired an early volley ahead of Saturday’s Women’s World Cup quarterfinal with Canada, saying the host country is feeling the pressure despite getting an easy ride from tournament referees.

“Without a shadow of a doubt we’re playing the most aggressive team in this tournament,” Sampson is quoted in The Guardian. “Whether they’re overly aggressive is open to interpretation. We’re all aware of the big refereeing decisions that have gone their way. They’ve been given a very dubious penalty (in tournament opener against China) and we can look at the fouls that have been awarded against them.

“We’ve got a qualified referee on our staff and, looking back at the games, he says at least quadruple the number of fouls they’ve actually been penalized for could have been awarded against them. I hope the match referee realizes there’s 22 players and two teams on the pitch.”

Uruguay’s Claudia Umpierrez has drawn the refereeing assignment Saturday.

Canada has been called for 47 fouls in its four matches here, compared to 54 for its opposition. Canadians have drawn five yellow cards, to four for the opposition.

Canada has also given up a penalty, escaping further damage when New Zealand’s Amber Hearn hit the crossbar.

England has received three yellow cards, committing 33 fouls and suffering 30. Only South Korea and Thailand have been called for fewer fouls at the tournament.

Sampson says his team is up for a fight Saturday.

“We just want a fair crack of the whip from the referee,” Sampson said.

The 32-year-old Sampson told The Guardian that Canada is feeling the heat.

“This is a different Canada who have relied on some fortunate refereeing decisions,” Sampson said. “I’m not sure we’ve seen them score a really strong goal that hasn’t come from an opponent’s error or a refereeing error.”

While Herdman and Canada’s management team are renowned for their comprehensive contingency plans, English players believe Canada won’t know what to prepare to face them, despite the fact the two teams know each other inside out.

“I think we have proved in this tournament that we can play in a number of different ways and a number of different formations, and that’s quite pleasing,” midfielder Jill Scott told England’s Football Association website. “Canada won’t know what England team is going to show up on Saturday.” Striker Ellen White agrees. “I think over the last kind of 18 months, two years, we’ve really been working on our different systems and how we can use them in different games against different oppositions and how we can adapt ourselves during games as well,” she told The Canadian Press on Friday.

“And I think we have used that throughout this tournament,” White said. “So yeah, I think Canada are not going to know what England team’s going to be turning up or during the game what we’re going to be switching to. So I think that’s really exciting — and really exciting for us that we’ve got different plans that we can draw upon and use against the opposition.

“So I think that’s a real good weapon for us to have in our locker.”

Saturday’s quarter-final at B.C. Place Stadium between eighth- ranked Canada and No. 6 England, is expected to draw a crowd of 50,000-plus. That will push attendance for Canadian games at the tournament to more than 235,000.

Sampson also took a playful shot at Canadian coach John Herdman, a fellow Brit with a sharp fashion sense, by referring to his “tight shirts and his Ray-Bans.”

Herdman, 39, was reportedly up for the job that Sampson got after coach Hope Powell was fired in August 2013. But Herdman instead signed a contract extension with the Canadian Soccer Association that runs through 2020.